Plastic and metallic components are frequently used in medical devices. The material used for those components are often chosen with one or more material properties required for the function of the component, such as high flexural modulus, high tensile and compressive strength, or capacity to be shaped into useful forms. Those component materials, however, are frequently water-insoluble and hydrophobic, so that they are poorly wetted by water. Thus, water tends to form beads on the surface, or the material can sometimes act as a site for inflammatory responses or other undesirable biological outcomes. In addition, body implants, such as orthopedic joints and other bone replacements, often present problems with subnormal lubrication as the body recovers from the trauma of disease and its corrective treatment.
A number of polymer-based lubricious agents have been used to ameliorate the unwanted side effects arising from biologically incompatible materials. These polymer-based agents, however, are increasingly the suspected cause of detrimental effects when they slough off of a coated device in a patient. In addition, some coatings require a long and multi-step process to be applied to a substrate. Moreover, often these coatings have shortcomings and fail to provide lasting or effective relief to the undesirable side effects of the incompatible material. There remains, therefore, a need to provide alternative materials for coating medical device components that impart better lubricity, wettability, and biocompatibility.